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  <div class="section" id="s-reporting-bugs-and-requesting-features">
<span id="reporting-bugs-and-requesting-features"></span><h1>Reporting bugs and requesting features<a class="headerlink" href="#reporting-bugs-and-requesting-features" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
<div class="admonition important">
<p class="first admonition-title">Important</p>
<p class="last">Please report security issues <strong>only</strong> to
<a class="reference external" href="mailto:security&#37;&#52;&#48;djangoproject&#46;com">security<span>&#64;</span>djangoproject<span>&#46;</span>com</a>.  This is a private list only open to
long-time, highly trusted Django developers, and its archives are
not public. For further details, please see <a class="reference internal" href="../security.html"><em>our security
policies</em></a>.</p>
</div>
<p>Otherwise, before reporting a bug or requesting a new feature, please consider these
general points:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Check that someone hasn&#8217;t already filed the bug or feature request by
<a class="reference external" href="https://code.djangoproject.com/search">searching</a> or running <a class="reference external" href="https://code.djangoproject.com/query">custom queries</a> in the ticket tracker.</li>
<li>Don&#8217;t use the ticket system to ask support questions. Use the
<a class="reference internal" href="../mailing-lists.html#django-users-mailing-list"><em>django-users</em></a> list or the <a class="reference external" href="irc://irc.freenode.net/django">#django</a> IRC channel for that.</li>
<li>Don&#8217;t reopen issues that have been marked &#8220;wontfix&#8221; by a core developer.
This mark means that the decision has been made that we can&#8217;t or won&#8217;t fix
this particular issue. If you&#8217;re not sure why, please ask
on <a class="reference internal" href="../mailing-lists.html#django-developers-mailing-list"><em>django-developers</em></a>.</li>
<li>Don&#8217;t use the ticket tracker for lengthy discussions, because they&#8217;re
likely to get lost. If a particular ticket is controversial, please move the
discussion to <a class="reference internal" href="../mailing-lists.html#django-developers-mailing-list"><em>django-developers</em></a>.</li>
</ul>
<div class="section" id="s-reporting-bugs">
<span id="s-id1"></span><span id="reporting-bugs"></span><span id="id1"></span><h2>Reporting bugs<a class="headerlink" href="#reporting-bugs" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>Well-written bug reports are <em>incredibly</em> helpful. However, there&#8217;s a certain
amount of overhead involved in working with any bug tracking system so your
help in keeping our ticket tracker as useful as possible is appreciated. In
particular:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><strong>Do</strong> read the <a class="reference internal" href="../../faq/index.html"><em>FAQ</em></a> to see if your issue might
be a well-known question.</li>
<li><strong>Do</strong> ask on <a class="reference internal" href="../mailing-lists.html#django-users-mailing-list"><em>django-users</em></a> or <a class="reference external" href="irc://irc.freenode.net/django">#django</a> <em>first</em> if you&#8217;re not sure if
what you&#8217;re seeing is a bug.</li>
<li><strong>Do</strong> write complete, reproducible, specific bug reports. You must
include a clear, concise description of the problem, and a set of
instructions for replicating it. Add as much debug information as you can:
code snippets, test cases, exception backtraces, screenshots, etc. A nice
small test case is the best way to report a bug, as it gives us an easy
way to confirm the bug quickly.</li>
<li><strong>Don&#8217;t</strong> post to <a class="reference internal" href="../mailing-lists.html#django-developers-mailing-list"><em>django-developers</em></a> just to announce that you have
filed a bug report. All the tickets are mailed to another list,
<a class="reference internal" href="../mailing-lists.html#django-updates-mailing-list"><em>django-updates</em></a>, which is tracked by developers and interested
community members; we see them as they are filed.</li>
</ul>
<p>To understand the lifecycle of your ticket once you have created it, refer to
<a class="reference internal" href="triaging-tickets.html"><em>Triaging tickets</em></a>.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="s-reporting-user-interface-bugs-and-features">
<span id="reporting-user-interface-bugs-and-features"></span><h2>Reporting user interface bugs and features<a class="headerlink" href="#reporting-user-interface-bugs-and-features" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>If your bug or feature request touches on anything visual in nature, there
are a few additional guidelines to follow:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Include screenshots in your ticket which are the visual equivalent of a
minimal testcase. Show off the issue, not the crazy customizations
you&#8217;ve made to your browser.</li>
<li>If the issue is difficult to show off using a still image, consider
capturing a <em>brief</em> screencast. If your software permits it, capture only
the relevant area of the screen.</li>
<li>If you&#8217;re offering a patch which changes the look or behavior of Django&#8217;s
UI, you <strong>must</strong> attach before <em>and</em> after screenshots/screencasts.
Tickets lacking these are difficult for triagers and core developers to
assess quickly.</li>
<li>Screenshots don&#8217;t absolve you of other good reporting practices. Make sure
to include URLs, code snippets, and step-by-step instructions on how to
reproduce the behavior visible in the screenshots.</li>
<li>Make sure to set the UI/UX flag on the ticket so interested parties can
find your ticket.</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="section" id="s-requesting-features">
<span id="requesting-features"></span><h2>Requesting features<a class="headerlink" href="#requesting-features" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>We&#8217;re always trying to make Django better, and your feature requests are a key
part of that. Here are some tips on how to make a request most effectively:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>Make sure the feature actually requires changes in Django&#8217;s core. If your
idea can be developed as an independent application or module — for
instance, you want to support another database engine — we&#8217;ll probably
suggest that you to develop it independently. Then, if your project
gathers sufficient community support, we may consider it for inclusion in
Django.</li>
<li>First request the feature on the <a class="reference internal" href="../mailing-lists.html#django-developers-mailing-list"><em>django-developers</em></a> list, not in the
ticket tracker. It&#8217;ll get read more closely if it&#8217;s on the mailing list.
This is even more important for large-scale feature requests. We like to
discuss any big changes to Django&#8217;s core on the mailing list before
actually working on them.</li>
<li>Describe clearly and concisely what the missing feature is and how you&#8217;d
like to see it implemented. Include example code (non-functional is OK)
if possible.</li>
<li>Explain <em>why</em> you&#8217;d like the feature. In some cases this is obvious, but
since Django is designed to help real developers get real work done,
you&#8217;ll need to explain it, if it isn&#8217;t obvious why the feature would be
useful.</li>
</ul>
<p>If core developers agree on the feature, then it&#8217;s appropriate to create a
ticket. Include a link the discussion on <a class="reference internal" href="../mailing-lists.html#django-developers-mailing-list"><em>django-developers</em></a> in the ticket
description.</p>
<p>As with most open-source projects, code talks. If you are willing to write the
code for the feature yourself or, even better, if you&#8217;ve already written it,
it&#8217;s much more likely to be accepted. Just fork Django on GitHub, create a
feature branch, and show us your work!</p>
<p>See also: <a class="reference internal" href="writing-documentation.html#documenting-new-features"><em>Documenting new features</em></a>.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="s-how-we-make-decisions">
<span id="s-id2"></span><span id="how-we-make-decisions"></span><span id="id2"></span><h2>How we make decisions<a class="headerlink" href="#how-we-make-decisions" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>Whenever possible, we strive for a rough consensus. To that end, we&#8217;ll often
have informal votes on <a class="reference internal" href="../mailing-lists.html#django-developers-mailing-list"><em>django-developers</em></a> about a feature. In these votes we
follow the voting style invented by Apache and used on Python itself, where
votes are given as +1, +0, -0, or -1. Roughly translated, these votes mean:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>+1: &#8220;I love the idea and I&#8217;m strongly committed to it.&#8221;</li>
<li>+0: &#8220;Sounds OK to me.&#8221;</li>
<li>-0: &#8220;I&#8217;m not thrilled, but I won&#8217;t stand in the way.&#8221;</li>
<li>-1: &#8220;I strongly disagree and would be very unhappy to see the idea turn
into reality.&#8221;</li>
</ul>
<p>Although these votes on <a class="reference internal" href="../mailing-lists.html#django-developers-mailing-list"><em>django-developers</em></a> are informal, they&#8217;ll be taken very
seriously. After a suitable voting period, if an obvious consensus arises we&#8217;ll
follow the votes.</p>
<p>However, consensus is not always possible. If consensus cannot be reached, or
if the discussion towards a consensus fizzles out without a concrete decision,
we use a more formal process.</p>
<p>Any <a class="reference internal" href="../committers.html"><em>core committer</em></a> may call for a formal vote
using the same voting mechanism above. A proposition will be considered carried
by the core team if:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>There are three &#8220;+1&#8221; votes from members of the core team.</li>
<li>There is no &#8220;-1&#8221; vote from any member of the core team.</li>
</ul>
<p>When calling for a vote, the caller should specify a deadline by which
votes must be received. One week is generally suggested as the minimum
amount of time.</p>
<p>Since this process allows any core committer to veto a proposal, any &#8220;-1&#8221;
votes should be accompanied by an explanation that explains what it would
take to convert that &#8220;-1&#8221; into at least a &#8220;+0&#8221;.</p>
<p>Whenever possible, these formal votes should be announced and held in
public on the <a class="reference internal" href="../mailing-lists.html#django-developers-mailing-list"><em>django-developers</em></a> mailing list. However, overly sensitive
or contentious issues &#8211; including, most notably, votes on new core
committers &#8211; may be held in private.</p>
</div>
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  <h3><a href="../../contents.html">Table Of Contents</a></h3>
  <ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#">Reporting bugs and requesting features</a><ul>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#reporting-bugs">Reporting bugs</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#reporting-user-interface-bugs-and-features">Reporting user interface bugs and features</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#requesting-features">Requesting features</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#how-we-make-decisions">How we make decisions</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
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